Wounded troops wait up to 400 days to have claim processed

Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash., chairwoman of the committee, said in a statement that under the new system, it takes on average nearly 400 days to process a claim.

Claim processing keeps injured troops waiting
By Kimberly Hefling - The Associated Press
Posted : Wednesday May 18, 2011 5:48:54 EDT
WASHINGTON — A system designed to get wounded troops out of the military and on disability compensation more quickly has failed recently to meet its efficiency goals, delaying service members’ release sometimes more than a year, documents show.

The lag has caused some of the troops to turn down job offers or postpone college because they don’t know when they will be discharged from the military.

The system is called the Integrated Disability Evaluation System. It started as a pilot in 2007, but has since been rolled out to nearly 80 military installations. By this fall, about 140 installations are expected to participate. It works by consolidating the required medical exams and ratings, so that a service member doesn’t have to go through the disability claims process first in the military and then in the VA.

Congress pushed the system following the 2007 scandal over poor living conditions at Walter Reed Army Medical Center, which highlighted the complexities of the disabilities claims system. Some wounded veterans were left in dire financial conditions as they waited for compensation from the VA.
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Claim processing keeps injured troops waiting

These are some of the men and women we expect to deliver everyday no matter what they have going on in their lives. Then when they get wounded, we settle for just assuming they get whatever they need. The truth is a lot different for them. They should not have to fight one more battle back home because they got hurt fighting battles in combat!